Thinking about purchasing Kubota L4400

[Newmicon]

Hello,

New tractor operator.

I have purchased 30 acres of land and plan on using it for grape growing. Starting out as a hobby farmer but have full intentions of growing on the whole 30 acres. I have cleared the land and had someone contractor out to do the stump removal.

I plan on using my tractor for the remaing land preperation.

I talked to a local Kubota dealer and he recommended the L4400HST.

For attachments I was thinking:
FEL
Tiller/Plow/...
Sub Soiler
Sprayer
Debating a Backhoe
Debating a Rear Blade or Back Blade

I've been reading the forums and am eager to get going on the land prep, any thoughts?

[crashz]

Sounds good. The only thing you may find that you need is a brush cutter. A good brush hog will cut field grass to small trees and leave a good enough finish cut for a field or between rows of trees. A rear finish mower will give a better looking cut, but will not be able to handle cutting brush and small trees.

[Gamer1524]

I think for what you are talking about...you will do fine with the 4400....I am picking mine up this Monday..but have used one for about 3 hours..and it seem to do what I need...I went with the gear model instead of the HST..but thats just me...I don't mind coming to a stop and shifting...I would rather have the extra HP on the PTO...

[Bob_Young]

Sounds like you're turning up a lot of dirt. If you want to keep the place fairly smooth and level, you should definitely get a box blade and maybe a rear blade as well.

The box blade will let you pull or push dirt from high spots to depressions. It'll do a much better job than the FEL, but takes a little while to learn. The rippers will pull up the residual roots left after your stump removal. Makes a good counterweight for the FEL as well. I imagine you'll find plenty of use for it.

The rear angle blade will let you move dirt to the side with a single long pass. It'll help with filling in ruts or furrows and grading roadways. At this latitude they also help with snow.

Compared to the tractor and FEL, the blades are quite inexpensive and add a lot of utility....especially for the work you have ahead.
FWIW
Bob

[Newmicon]

Thanks for the advice on the box blade. Given your advice, I will probably pick one up.

What about a rear rake?
I was thinking of mainly getting it to help with gathering up the small limbs that will be left behind. Most everything should be chipped before I get in there, but there will still be a lot of scraps.

Or should I take a look at another attachment instead?

[Bob_Young]

Definitely get the rake. I find mine very useful for just what you describe. Make sure you get a model that has the option of attaching gage wheels. These will let you set the height (or degree of engagement) of the tines and keep them from digging in and collecting a mound of dirt along with the debris. If you don't get them with the rake, you'll want them later.

The rake will do a nice job of finishing a surface as well. The boxblade will leave some small ridges and mounds here and there; plus there will be tire tracks. If set right, the rake will erase them quickly.

I've got the standard duty 6' Woods with gage wheels and would recommend it to anybody. It's perfect on the L4300 but useable even on the B7610...though I can't raise it too far. On loose dirt with the gage wheels raised all the way up (out of contact with ground) it acts like a less aggressive rear angle blade and picks up dirt and distributes it to the side. Some people use them this way to move light snow coverings.

With the box blade and a rake with gage wheels, you should be all set.
Bob

[Newmicon]

Was talking to a friend, and he recommended maybe getting a chain harrow. (spelling?)

However, from talking to him it seems like it is more for grooming a surface then picking up debris/tree limbs. Would that be correct?

[Bob_Young]

Never used a chain harrow, New, but I can't see how one would pick anything up. I'd imagine it would be for surface grooming and smoothing. Probably very good at removing tracks and small ridges, and filling shallow depressions....things hard to do precisely with a blade or rake.
Bob

[Newmicon]

Ya, was talking to the tractor dealer and he was saying the same thing.

Turns out my 'reliable source' used his harrow to spread around cr@p and recommended it because that's all they had.

[Oldchuck]

Hello New. We just bought a new 4400HST and I like it a lot. Our use is very different than yours so I have no advice on attachments. We are using it on hilly, rocky forest land with only a couple of cleared acres. I like the HST because I am doing a lot of forward-reverse operations and it is very handy not to have to shift geers.

My son managed to tax it to the max yesterday moving a pretty large rock. Must have weighed close to a ton. He dug it out with the backhoe and picked it up with pallet forks. It worked but just barely.

Good luck with yours.